The present invention relates to a tube lamp and its manufacturing method.
A conventional tube lamp, for example, a bulb type fluorescent lamp comprises an enclosure comprising a globe 1 and a case 37, a fluorescent tube 4, a lighting circuit 38 for lighting the fluorescent tube 4, the fluorescent lamp and the lighting circuit both being housed in the enclosure, as shown in FIG. 16.
The case 37 has a base 41 screwed on one end thereof and having an eyelet 39 and a shell 40.
The lighting circuit 38 has two leads 42 and 43 for supplying power. One 42 of the leads is led out from a through-hole formed in the eyelet 39 and is electrically connected to an outer surface of the eyelet 39 by means of soldering.
The other lead 43 is led to an exterior of the case 37 and electrically connected to an outer surface of the shell 40 by means of soldering.
In such a conventional tube lamp, however, the lighting circuit 38 and the base 41 are connected via the leads 42 and 43, that is, the conventional tube lamp requires the following operations: The one 42 of the leads is straightened and passed through the through-hole 44 in the eyelet 39, the other lead 43 is bent and led to the exterior of the case 37, and the leads 42 and 43 are then brought into contact with the outer surface of the shell and their unwanted portions are cut off for the soldering. These operations must be manual, thereby reducing productivity and increasing costs.
The present invention is provided to solve these problems, and it is an object thereof to provide a tube lamp and its manufacturing method which allow a lighting circuit and a shell to be easily and reliably connected together, which enable automation of a step of connecting the lighting circuit and the shell together, and which require low costs while achieving a high production efficiency.
A tube lamp according to the present invention comprises a case including a base portion having a shell at an end thereof, and a lighting circuit housed in the case and comprising a printed circuit board with a circuit part mounted thereon, the shell and the lighting circuit being connected together without leads.
Additionally, a tube lamp manufacturing method according to the present invention manufactures a tube lamp comprising a case including a base portion having a shell at an end thereof, and a lighting circuit housed in the case and comprising a printed circuit board with a circuit part and terminals mounted thereon, the shell and the terminals being connected together, the method comprising connecting the terminals to the shell at the same time when the lighting circuit is housed in the case.
The tube lamp and its manufacturing method eliminate the needs for leads and soldering thereof to enable the shell and the lighting circuit to be easily and reliably connected together, enable automation of a step of connecting the lighting circuit and the shell together instead of depending on manual operations, improve production efficiency due to the omission of the soldering step, and reduces costs because of a reduction in maintenance costs for facilities required for the soldering step and in material costs for leads, solders, and the like. The omission of solders also contributes to environment protection.